Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Review

Finish off the GTA IV storyline in style.

While it was big news that Rockstar was bringing GTA IV to Xbox 360 at the same time it hit PS3, the bigger story was the promise of two exclusive downloadable episodes. Rockstar has now delivered on that promise with the The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. If you don't have Xbox Live or you no longer own a copy of GTA IV, you can still enjoy these new stories by picking up Episodes of Liberty City from your local game store. This $40 disc includes both episodes and can be played without owning a copy of GTA IV.

I've reviewed The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony in-depth, so I won't go over each in great detail here. Just know that you are getting more than 20 hours of great gameplay at a reasonable price. These two stories finish off the tale of the stolen diamonds from GTA IV while adding some welcome gameplay improvements. The Lost and Damned makes riding motorcycles fun and The Ballad of Gay Tony adds a scoring system for each mission, increasing the replay value.

The Lost and Damned

The Lost and Damned's one failing is in creating a character that's difficult to care about. But there are enough interesting asides to GTA IV that most can overlook the weaker story and just enjoy L&D for what it is -- a supplement to a great game. I recommend giving L&D a shot, not because Johnny is a great new addition to the Rockstar universe, but because the gameplay from GTA IV has been improved for the better.

It's important to note that The Lost and Damned is not a new game. There's just so much content here that it feels like something brand new. This is a downloadable episode and as such, it is judged against other episodic content on Xbox 360. But even something like Elder Scrolls IV's The Shivering Isles can't compete against The Lost and Damned. The gameplay changes are great and the multiplayer is excellent. If the story and new characters were better, this would be the perfect $20 download. But as it stands, it's still the best available by a long shot.

In The Ballad of Gay Tony, you take on the role of Luis Lopez who works for the title character. Where GTA IV star Niko Belic and Lost and Damned anti-hero Johnny Klebitz are men of little means attempting to rise up in the world, Luis has already made his transition from rags to riches. Tony Prince, owner of the biggest straight and gay nightclubs in Liberty City, took Luis under his wing and made him something. The Ballad of Gay Tony isn't about living in squalor. You live well and you work for the richest men in the city.

The Ballad of Gay Tony is the perfect way to close out the GTA IV saga. Finally, we know what happened to the diamonds stolen in the main story a year-and-a-half ago. Though Luis Lopez doesn't have much of a story at all (this is the ballad of his boss, after all), the supporting cast is phenomenal. There are a lot of hilarious moments and ludicrous missions that will please GTA fans. Sure, a few of the missions fall flat compared to the wild nature of others, but all-in-all this is a fine package and worth 20 bucks.

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City is an amazing offering, featuring two of the best pieces of downloadable content ever released on Xbox 360. There's more than 20 hours of gameplay to be had here, just on the single-player missions alone. There are also tons of side quests and distractions as well as multiplayer. It would have been great if this package also included the full retail version of GTA IV to serve as a complete collection of the game, but this is still pretty damn good.